Union authorizes strike at 6 Marriott hotels on Oahu, Maui

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii hospitality industry union has authorized a strike at six hotels operated by Marriott on Oahu and Maui. Members of the Unite Here Local 5 union voted Monday for a strike…

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii hospitality industry union has authorized a strike at six hotels operated by Marriott on Oahu and Maui.

Members of the Unite Here Local 5 union voted Monday for a strike if contract negotiations with Marriott are not settled soon, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported .

The union vote covers nearly 3,500 workers at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa, the Sheraton Waikiki, the Royal Hawaiian, the Moana Surfrider and the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani in Honolulu, as well as the Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa in Lahaina.

About 95 percent of the hotel workers supported the measure, which is the first in a series of strike votes planned by union members at Marriott properties in Hawaii, Boston and San Francisco.

The union has been in contract negotiations with Marriott since June, said Eric Gill, the Local 5 secretary-treasurer.

“Our proposal is to make one job enough to live in Hawaii,” Gill said. “Marriott’s proposal is to get another job.”

Julie Gabot, a housekeeper at the Sheraton Waikiki, said that she voted yes for the strike “because our hotels keep squeezing us to work harder, while we get less. We need to fight for proper staffing and reasonable workloads so we can be healthy when we retire and not broken down.”